Smoothing of difference reference picture

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for coding video information according to certain aspects includes a memory unit and a processor in communication with the memory unit. The memory unit stores difference video information associated with a difference video layer of pixel information derived from a difference between an enhancement layer and a corresponding base layer of the video information. The processor determines a value of a video unit based on a reference video unit or spatial neighboring video unit within the difference video layer and applies a smoothing filter to the reference video unit or spatial neighboring video unit.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.61/669,545, filed Jul. 9, 2012, U.S. Provisional Application No.61/706,739, filed Sep. 27, 2012, and U.S. Provisional Application No.61/706,741, filed Sep. 27, 2012, the entire contents of which areincorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to video coding.

BACKGROUND

Digital video capabilities can be incorporated into a wide range ofdevices, including digital televisions, digital direct broadcastsystems, wireless broadcast systems, personal digital assistants (PDAs),laptop or desktop computers, tablet computers, e-book readers, digitalcameras, digital recording devices, digital media players, video gamingdevices, video game consoles, cellular or satellite radio telephones,so-called “smart phones,” video teleconferencing devices, videostreaming devices, and the like. Digital video devices implement videocoding techniques, such as those described in the standards defined byMPEG-2, MPEG-4, ITU-T H.263, ITU-T H.264/MPEG-4, Part 10, Advanced VideoCoding (AVC), the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard presentlyunder development, and extensions of such standards. The video devicesmay transmit, receive, encode, decode, and/or store digital videoinformation more efficiently by implementing such video codingtechniques.

Video coding techniques include spatial (intra-picture) predictionand/or temporal (inter-picture) prediction to reduce or removeredundancy inherent in video sequences. For block-based video coding, avideo slice (e.g., a video frame or a portion of a video frame) may bepartitioned into video blocks, which may also be referred to astreeblocks, coding units (CUs) and/or coding nodes. Video blocks in anintra-coded (I) slice of a picture are encoded using spatial predictionwith respect to reference samples in neighboring blocks in the samepicture. Video blocks in an inter-coded (P or B) slice of a picture mayuse spatial prediction with respect to reference samples in neighboringblocks in the same picture or temporal prediction with respect toreference samples in other reference pictures. Pictures may be referredto as frames, and reference pictures may be referred to a referenceframes.

Spatial or temporal prediction results in a predictive block for a blockto be coded. Residual data represents pixel differences between theoriginal block to be coded and the predictive block. An inter-codedblock is encoded according to a motion vector that points to a block ofreference samples forming the predictive block, and the residual dataindicating the difference between the coded block and the predictiveblock. An intra-coded block is encoded according to an intra-coding modeand the residual data. For further compression, the residual data may betransformed from the pixel domain to a transform domain, resulting inresidual transform coefficients, which then may be quantized. Thequantized transform coefficients, initially arranged in atwo-dimensional array, may be scanned in order to produce aone-dimensional vector of transform coefficients, and entropy coding maybe applied to achieve even more compression.

SUMMARY

In general, this disclosure describes techniques related to scalablevideo coding (SVC). More specifically, the techniques of this disclosurerelate to intra and inter prediction in difference domain coding. Insome examples, the techniques may assign different weights to areference frame from the enhancement layer and a reference frame fromthe reconstructed base layer in order to generate a reference frame forthe difference domain. In some examples, the techniques may assigndifferent weights to spatial neighboring pixels from the enhancementlayer and spatial neighboring pixels from the reconstructed base layerin order to generate neighboring pixels for the difference domain forintra prediction. By assigning weight values to the EL and thereconstructed BL, the techniques may account for weak spatial andtemporal correlation between frames in the same layer and/or weakcorrelation between the EL and the BL. For example, an EL and a BL maybe very different in terms of the picture they present. In such case,the EL reference frame may be given more weight in generating thedifference domain reference frame. Alternatively, the reconstructed BLreference may be given more weight instead of the EL reference frame.

In some examples, the techniques may also apply a smoothing filter or alow-pass filter to a reference frame in the difference domain for interprediction or a smoothing filter or a low-pass filter to spatialneighboring pixels in the difference domain in order to reduce the highfrequency noise likely to be present in the difference domain. Thetechniques may apply a simple smoothing filter, such as a 1:2:1 filter,in order to retain texture without adding computational complexity. Anysmoothing filter can be applied as long as the benefits of applying thefilter outweigh the additional computational complexity.

An apparatus for coding video information according to certain aspectsincludes a memory unit and a processor in communication with the memoryunit. The memory unit stores difference video information associatedwith a difference video layer of pixel information derived from adifference between an enhancement layer and a corresponding base layerof the video information. The processor determines an enhancement layerweight and a base layer weight, and determines a value of a currentvideo unit based on the difference video layer, a value of a video unitin the enhancement layer weighted by the enhancement layer weight, and avalue of a video unit in the base layer weighted by the base layerweight.

An apparatus for coding video information according to certain aspectsincludes a memory unit and a processor in communication with the memoryunit. The memory unit stores difference video information associatedwith a difference video layer of pixel information derived from adifference between an enhancement layer and a corresponding base layerof the video information. The processor determines a value of a videounit based on a reference video unit or spatial neighboring video unitwithin the difference video layer and applies a smoothing filter to thereference video unit or spatial neighboring video unit.

The details of one or more examples are set forth in the accompanyingdrawings and the description below. Other features, objects, andadvantages will be apparent from the description and drawings, and fromthe claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example video encoding anddecoding system that may utilize techniques in accordance with aspectsdescribed in this disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a video encoderthat may implement techniques in accordance with aspects described inthis disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a video decoderthat may implement techniques in accordance with aspects described inthis disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating adaptive weighted differencedomain reference reconstruction according to aspects of this disclosure.

FIG. 4A is a conceptual diagram illustrating adaptive weighteddifference domain reference reconstruction according to aspects of thisdisclosure.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram illustrating smoothing of differencedomain reference according to aspects of this disclosure.

FIG. 5A is a conceptual diagram illustrating smoothing of differencedomain reference according to aspects of this disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example method for adaptivelygenerating difference domain references according to aspects of thisdisclosure.

FIG. 6A is a flowchart illustrating an example method for adaptivelygenerating difference domain references according to aspects of thisdisclosure.

FIG. 6B is a flowchart illustrating another example method foradaptively generating difference domain references according to aspectsof this disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example method for smoothingdifference domain references according to aspects of this disclosure.

FIG. 7A is a flowchart illustrating another example method for smoothingdifference domain references according to aspects of this disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The techniques described in this disclosure generally relate to scalablevideo coding (SVC). For example, the techniques may be related to, andused with or within, a High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) scalablevideo coding (SVC) extension. In an SVC extension, there could bemultiple layers of video information. The layer at the very bottom levelmay serve as a base layer (BL), and the layer at the very top may serveas an enhanced layer (EL). The “enhanced layer” is sometimes referred toas an “enhancement layer,” and these terms may be used interchangeably.All layers in the middle may serve as either or both ELs or BLs. Forexample, a layer in the middle may be an EL for the layers below it,such as the base layer or any intervening enhancement layers, and at thesame time serve as a BL for the enhancement layers above it.

For purposes of illustration only, the techniques described in thedisclosure are described with examples including only two layers (e.g.,lower level layer such as the base layer, and a higher level layer suchas the enhanced layer). It should be understood that the examplesdescribed in this disclosure can be extended to examples with multiplebase layers and enhancement layers as well.

Video coding standards include ITU-T H.261, ISO/IEC MPEG-1 Visual, ITU-TH.262 or ISO/IEC MPEG-2 Visual, ITU-T H.263, ISO/IEC MPEG-4 Visual andITU-T H.264 (also known as ISO/IEC MPEG-4 AVC), including its ScalableVideo Coding (SVC) and Multiview Video Coding (MVC) extensions. Inaddition, a new video coding standard, namely High Efficiency VideoCoding (HEVC), is being developed by the Joint Collaboration Team onVideo Coding (JCT-VC) of ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG) andISO/IEC Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG). A recent draft of HEVC isavailable fromhttp://wg11.sc29.org/jct/doc_end_user/current_document.php?id=5885/JCTVC-I1003-v2,as of Jun. 7, 2012. Another recent draft of the HEVC standard, referredto as “HEVC Working Draft 7” is downloadable fromhttp://phenix.it-sudparis.eu/jct/doc_end_user/documents/9_Geneva/wg11/JCTVC-I1003-v3.zip,as of Jun. 7, 2012. The full citation for the HEVC Working Draft 7 isdocument HCTVC-I1003, Bross et al., “High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC)Text Specification Draft 7,” Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding(JCT-VC) of ITU-T SG16 WP3 and ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11, 9^(th) Meeting:Geneva, Switzerland, Apr. 27, 2012 to May 7, 2012. Each of thesereferences is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Scalable video coding (SVC) may be used to provide quality (alsoreferred to as signal-to-noise (SNR)) scaling, spatial scaling and/ortemporal scaling. An enhanced layer may have different spatialresolution than base layer. For example, the spatial aspect ratiobetween EL and BL can be 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 or other different ratios. Inother words, the spatial aspect of the EL may equal 1.0, 1.5, or 2.0times the spatial aspect of the BL. In some examples, the scaling factorof the EL may be greater than the BL. For example, a size of pictures inthe EL may be greater than a size of pictures in the BL. In this way, itmay be possible, although not a limitation, that the spatial resolutionof the EL is larger than the spatial resolution of the BL.

In coding an enhancement layer, inter prediction may be performed usingeither pixel domain or difference domain. Inter prediction is predictionbased on temporal correlation between video blocks in two frames orslices in sequence of time. For example, the value of a current videoblock being coded may be predicted using a motion vector that indicatesa displacement from the reference video block in a previously codedframe or slice. In SVC, video information can be coded using a baselayer and one or more enhancement layers, and inter prediction can beperformed in the difference domain, e.g., by taking the differencebetween the enhancement layer and the reconstructed base layer. Thedifference domain may refer to a set of difference pixels formed bysubtracting the reconstructed base layer pixels from the reconstructedpixels in the enhancement layer, or vice versa. Inter prediction in thedifference domain can take advantage of the temporal correlation betweenframes as well as the correlation between a base layer and anenhancement layer. Similarly, intra prediction can take advantage of thespatial correlation between frames as well as the correlation between abase layer and an enhancement layer.

However, the difference pixels in the difference domain are generallyhigh frequency components, for example, due to loss from quantizationwhen reconstructing the base layer. Therefore, inter prediction usingreference frames and intra prediction using spatial neighboring pixelsin the difference domain may not lead to good prediction results. Inaddition, the spatial and temporal correlation of the current predictionunit may be stronger either in the enhancement layer or thereconstructed base layer, or vice versa. Accordingly, it would beadvantageous to generate temporal reference frames and spatialneighboring pixels in the difference domain by weighting the enhancementlayer and the reconstructed base layer according to the characteristicsof the enhancement layer and the reconstructed base layer.

In addition, as explained above, the difference domain is likely tocontain high frequency components, which are not great for intra orinter prediction. For example, such high frequency components may resultfrom weak spatial and temporal correlation between frames. Highfrequency components may also result from large quantization loss whenenhancement layer and the reconstructed base layer are operating atdifferent quantization or they are of different spatial resolutions. Forexample, the enhancement layer and the base layer may be operating at adifferent quantization parameter, which can lead to the differencebetween the enhancement layer and the reconstructed base layer to behigh frequency. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to reduce the highfrequency noise of the difference domain pixels.

The techniques described in this disclosure may address issues relatingto intra and inter prediction in the difference domain. The techniquesmay assign different weights to a reference frame and spatialneighboring pixels from the enhancement layer and a reference frame andspatial neighboring pixels from the reconstructed base layer in order togenerate a reference frame and spatial neighboring pixels for thedifference domain. By assigning weight values to the EL and thereconstructed BL, the techniques may account for weak temporalcorrelation between frames in the same layer and/or weak correlationbetween the EL and the BL. For example, an EL might be better qualitythan base layer. In such case, the EL reference frame may be given moreweight in generating the difference domain reference frame.Alternatively, the reconstructed BL reference may be given more weightinstead of the EL reference frame.

The techniques may also apply a smoothing filter to a reference frame orspatial neighboring pixels in the difference domain in order to reducethe high frequency noise likely to be present in the difference domain.The techniques may apply a simple smoothing filter, such as a 1:2:1filter, in order to retain texture without adding computationalcomplexity. Any smoothing filter can be applied as long as the benefitsof applying the filter outweigh the additional computational complexity.

Various aspects of the novel systems, apparatuses, and methods aredescribed more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanyingdrawings. This disclosure may, however, be embodied in many differentforms and should not be construed as limited to any specific structureor function presented throughout this disclosure. Rather, these aspectsare provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, andwill fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in theart. Based on the teachings herein one skilled in the art shouldappreciate that the scope of the disclosure is intended to cover anyaspect of the novel systems, apparatuses, and methods disclosed herein,whether implemented independently of, or combined with, any other aspectof the invention. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or amethod may be practiced using any number of the aspects set forthherein. In addition, the scope of the invention is intended to coversuch an apparatus or method which is practiced using other structure,functionality, or structure and functionality in addition to or otherthan the various aspects of the invention set forth herein. It should beunderstood that any aspect disclosed herein may be embodied by one ormore elements of a claim.

Although particular aspects are described herein, many variations andpermutations of these aspects fall within the scope of the disclosure.Although some benefits and advantages of the preferred aspects arementioned, the scope of the disclosure is not intended to be limited toparticular benefits, uses, or objectives. Rather, aspects of thedisclosure are intended to be broadly applicable to different wirelesstechnologies, system configurations, networks, and transmissionprotocols, some of which are illustrated by way of example in thefigures and in the following description of the preferred aspects. Thedetailed description and drawings are merely illustrative of thedisclosure rather than limiting, the scope of the disclosure beingdefined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example video encoding anddecoding system that may utilize techniques in accordance with aspectsdescribed in this disclosure. As shown in FIG. 1, system 10 includes asource device 12 that provides encoded video data to be decoded at alater time by a destination device 14. In particular, source device 12provides the video data to destination device 14 via a computer-readablemedium 16. Source device 12 and destination device 14 may comprise anyof a wide range of devices, including desktop computers, notebook (e.g.,laptop) computers, tablet computers, set-top boxes, telephone handsetssuch as so-called “smart” phones, so-called “smart” pads, televisions,cameras, display devices, digital media players, video gaming consoles,video streaming device, or the like. In some cases, source device 12 anddestination device 14 may be equipped for wireless communication.

Destination device 14 may receive the encoded video data to be decodedvia computer-readable medium 16. Computer-readable medium 16 maycomprise any type of medium or device capable of moving the encodedvideo data from source device 12 to destination device 14. In oneexample, computer-readable medium 16 may comprise a communication mediumto enable source device 12 to transmit encoded video data directly todestination device 14 in real-time. The encoded video data may bemodulated according to a communication standard, such as a wirelesscommunication protocol, and transmitted to destination device 14. Thecommunication medium may comprise any wireless or wired communicationmedium, such as a radio frequency (RF) spectrum or one or more physicaltransmission lines. The communication medium may form part of apacket-based network, such as a local area network, a wide-area network,or a global network such as the Internet. The communication medium mayinclude routers, switches, base stations, or any other equipment thatmay be useful to facilitate communication from source device 12 todestination device 14.

In some examples, encoded data may be output from output interface 22 toa storage device. Similarly, encoded data may be accessed from thestorage device by input interface. The storage device may include any ofa variety of distributed or locally accessed data storage media such asa hard drive, Blu-ray discs, DVDs, CD-ROMs, flash memory, volatile ornon-volatile memory, or any other suitable digital storage media forstoring encoded video data. In a further example, the storage device maycorrespond to a file server or another intermediate storage device thatmay store the encoded video generated by source device 12. Destinationdevice 14 may access stored video data from the storage device viastreaming or download. The file server may be any type of server capableof storing encoded video data and transmitting that encoded video datato the destination device 14. Example file servers include a web server(e.g., for a website), an FTP server, network attached storage (NAS)devices, or a local disk drive. Destination device 14 may access theencoded video data through any standard data connection, including anInternet connection. This may include a wireless channel (e.g., a Wi-Ficonnection), a wired connection (e.g., DSL, cable modem, etc.), or acombination of both that is suitable for accessing encoded video datastored on a file server. The transmission of encoded video data from thestorage device may be a streaming transmission, a download transmission,or a combination thereof.

The techniques of this disclosure are not necessarily limited towireless applications or settings. The techniques may be applied tovideo coding in support of any of a variety of multimedia applications,such as over-the-air television broadcasts, cable televisiontransmissions, satellite television transmissions, Internet streamingvideo transmissions, such as dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP(DASH), digital video that is encoded onto a data storage medium,decoding of digital video stored on a data storage medium, or otherapplications. In some examples, system 10 may be configured to supportone-way or two-way video transmission to support applications such asvideo streaming, video playback, video broadcasting, and/or videotelephony.

In the example of FIG. 1, source device 12 includes video source 18,video encoder 20, and output interface 22. Destination device 14includes input interface 28, video decoder 30, and display device 32. Inaccordance with this disclosure, video encoder 20 of source device 12may be configured to apply the techniques for coding a bitstreamincluding video data conforming to multiple standards or standardextensions. In other examples, a source device and a destination devicemay include other components or arrangements. For example, source device12 may receive video data from an external video source 18, such as anexternal camera. Likewise, destination device 14 may interface with anexternal display device, rather than including an integrated displaydevice.

The illustrated system 10 of FIG. 1 is merely one example. Techniquesfor determining candidates for a candidate list for motion vectorpredictors for a current block may be performed by any digital videoencoding and/or decoding device. Although generally the techniques ofthis disclosure are performed by a video encoding device, the techniquesmay also be performed by a video encoder/decoder, typically referred toas a “CODEC.” Moreover, the techniques of this disclosure may also beperformed by a video preprocessor. Source device 12 and destinationdevice 14 are merely examples of such coding devices in which sourcedevice 12 generates coded video data for transmission to destinationdevice 14. In some examples, devices 12, 14 may operate in asubstantially symmetrical manner such that each of devices 12, 14include video encoding and decoding components. Hence, system 10 maysupport one-way or two-way video transmission between video devices 12,14, e.g., for video streaming, video playback, video broadcasting, orvideo telephony.

Video source 18 of source device 12 may include a video capture device,such as a video camera, a video archive containing previously capturedvideo, and/or a video feed interface to receive video from a videocontent provider. As a further alternative, video source 18 may generatecomputer graphics-based data as the source video, or a combination oflive video, archived video, and computer-generated video. In some cases,if video source 18 is a video camera, source device 12 and destinationdevice 14 may form so-called camera phones or video phones. As mentionedabove, however, the techniques described in this disclosure may beapplicable to video coding in general, and may be applied to wirelessand/or wired applications. In each case, the captured, pre-captured, orcomputer-generated video may be encoded by video encoder 20. The encodedvideo information may then be output by output interface 22 onto acomputer-readable medium 16.

Computer-readable medium 16 may include transient media, such as awireless broadcast or wired network transmission, or storage media (thatis, non-transitory storage media), such as a hard disk, flash drive,compact disc, digital video disc, Blu-ray disc, or othercomputer-readable media. In some examples, a network server (not shown)may receive encoded video data from source device 12 and provide theencoded video data to destination device 14, e.g., via networktransmission, direct wired communication, etc. Similarly, a computingdevice of a medium production facility, such as a disc stampingfacility, may receive encoded video data from source device 12 andproduce a disc containing the encoded video data. Therefore,computer-readable medium 16 may be understood to include one or morecomputer-readable media of various forms, in various examples.

Input interface 28 of destination device 14 receives information fromcomputer-readable medium 16. The information of computer-readable medium16 may include syntax information defined by video encoder 20, which isalso used by video decoder 30, that includes syntax elements thatdescribe characteristics and/or processing of blocks and other codedunits, e.g., GOPs. Display device 32 displays the decoded video data toa user, and may comprise any of a variety of display devices such as acathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasmadisplay, an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, or another typeof display device.

Video encoder 20 and video decoder 30 may operate according to a videocoding standard, such as the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC)standard presently under development, and may conform to the HEVC TestModel (HM). Alternatively, video encoder 20 and video decoder 30 mayoperate according to other proprietary or industry standards, such asthe ITU-T H.264 standard, alternatively referred to as MPEG-4, Part 10,Advanced Video Coding (AVC), or extensions of such standards. Thetechniques of this disclosure, however, are not limited to anyparticular coding standard, including but not limited to any of thestandards listed above. Other examples of video coding standards includeMPEG-2 and ITU-T H.263. Although not shown in FIG. 1, in some aspects,video encoder 20 and video decoder 30 may each be integrated with anaudio encoder and decoder, and may include appropriate MUX-DEMUX units,or other hardware and software, to handle encoding of both audio andvideo in a common data stream or separate data streams. If applicable,MUX-DEMUX units may conform to the ITU H.223 multiplexer protocol, orother protocols such as the user datagram protocol (UDP).

Video encoder 20 and video decoder 30 each may be implemented as any ofa variety of suitable encoder circuitry, such as one or moremicroprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specificintegrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),discrete logic, software, hardware, firmware or any combinationsthereof. When the techniques are implemented partially in software, adevice may store instructions for the software in a suitable,non-transitory computer-readable medium and execute the instructions inhardware using one or more processors to perform the techniques of thisdisclosure. Each of video encoder 20 and video decoder 30 may beincluded in one or more encoders or decoders, either of which may beintegrated as part of a combined encoder/decoder (CODEC) in a respectivedevice. A device including video encoder 20 and/or video decoder 30 maycomprise an integrated circuit, a microprocessor, and/or a wirelesscommunication device, such as a cellular telephone.

The JCT-VC is working on development of the HEVC standard. The HEVCstandardization efforts are based on an evolving model of a video codingdevice referred to as the HEVC Test Model (HM). The HM presumes severaladditional capabilities of video coding devices relative to existingdevices according to, e.g., ITU-T H.264/AVC. For example, whereas H.264provides nine intra-prediction encoding modes, the HM may provide asmany as thirty-three intra-prediction encoding modes.

In general, the working model of the HM describes that a video frame orpicture may be divided into a sequence of treeblocks or largest codingunits (LCU) that include both luma and chroma samples. Syntax datawithin a bitstream may define a size for the LCU, which is a largestcoding unit in terms of the number of pixels. A slice includes a numberof consecutive treeblocks in coding order. A video frame or picture maybe partitioned into one or more slices. Each treeblock may be split intocoding units (CUs) according to a quadtree. In general, a quadtree datastructure includes one node per CU, with a root node corresponding tothe treeblock. If a CU is split into four sub-CUs, the nodecorresponding to the CU includes four leaf nodes, each of whichcorresponds to one of the sub-CUs.

Each node of the quadtree data structure may provide syntax data for thecorresponding CU. For example, a node in the quadtree may include asplit flag, indicating whether the CU corresponding to the node is splitinto sub-CUs. Syntax elements for a CU may be defined recursively, andmay depend on whether the CU is split into sub-CUs. If a CU is not splitfurther, it is referred as a leaf-CU. In this disclosure, four sub-CUsof a leaf-CU will also be referred to as leaf-CUs even if there is noexplicit splitting of the original leaf-CU. For example, if a CU at16×16 size is not split further, the four 8×8 sub-CUs will also bereferred to as leaf-CUs although the 16×16 CU was never split.

A CU has a similar purpose as a macroblock of the H.264 standard, exceptthat a CU does not have a size distinction. For example, a treeblock maybe split into four child nodes (also referred to as sub-CUs), and eachchild node may in turn be a parent node and be split into another fourchild nodes. A final, unsplit child node, referred to as a leaf node ofthe quadtree, comprises a coding node, also referred to as a leaf-CU.Syntax data associated with a coded bitstream may define a maximumnumber of times a treeblock may be split, referred to as a maximum CUdepth, and may also define a minimum size of the coding nodes.Accordingly, a bitstream may also define a smallest coding unit (SCU).This disclosure uses the term “block” to refer to any of a CU, PU, orTU, in the context of HEVC, or similar data structures in the context ofother standards (e.g., macroblocks and sub-blocks thereof in H.264/AVC).

A CU includes a coding node and prediction units (PUs) and transformunits (TUs) associated with the coding node. A size of the CUcorresponds to a size of the coding node and must be square in shape.The size of the CU may range from 8×8 pixels up to the size of thetreeblock with a maximum of 64×64 pixels or greater. Each CU may containone or more PUs and one or more TUs. Syntax data associated with a CUmay describe, for example, partitioning of the CU into one or more PUs.Partitioning modes may differ between whether the CU is skip or directmode encoded, intra-prediction mode encoded, or inter-prediction modeencoded. PUs may be partitioned to be non-square in shape. Syntax dataassociated with a CU may also describe, for example, partitioning of theCU into one or more TUs according to a quadtree. A TU can be square ornon-square (e.g., rectangular) in shape.

The HEVC standard allows for transformations according to TUs, which maybe different for different CUs. The TUs are typically sized based on thesize of PUs within a given CU defined for a partitioned LCU, althoughthis may not always be the case. The TUs are typically the same size orsmaller than the PUs. In some examples, residual samples correspondingto a CU may be subdivided into smaller units using a quadtree structureknown as “residual quad tree” (RQT). The leaf nodes of the RQT may bereferred to as transform units (TUs). Pixel difference values associatedwith the TUs may be transformed to produce transform coefficients, whichmay be quantized.

A leaf-CU may include one or more prediction units (PUs). In general, aPU represents a spatial area corresponding to all or a portion of thecorresponding CU, and may include data for retrieving a reference samplefor the PU. Moreover, a PU includes data related to prediction. Forexample, when the PU is intra-mode encoded, data for the PU may beincluded in a residual quadtree (RQT), which may include data describingan intra-prediction mode for a TU corresponding to the PU. As anotherexample, when the PU is inter-mode encoded, the PU may include datadefining one or more motion vectors for the PU. The data defining themotion vector for a PU may describe, for example, a horizontal componentof the motion vector, a vertical component of the motion vector, aresolution for the motion vector (e.g., one-quarter pixel precision orone-eighth pixel precision), a reference picture to which the motionvector points, and/or a reference picture list (e.g., List 0, List 1, orList C) for the motion vector.

A leaf-CU having one or more PUs may also include one or more transformunits (TUs). The transform units may be specified using an RQT (alsoreferred to as a TU quadtree structure), as discussed above. Forexample, a split flag may indicate whether a leaf-CU is split into fourtransform units. Then, each transform unit may be split further intofurther sub-TUs. When a TU is not split further, it may be referred toas a leaf-TU. Generally, for intra coding, all the leaf-TUs belonging toa leaf-CU share the same intra prediction mode. That is, the sameintra-prediction mode is generally applied to calculate predicted valuesfor all TUs of a leaf-CU. For intra coding, a video encoder maycalculate a residual value for each leaf-TU using the intra predictionmode, as a difference between the portion of the CU corresponding to theTU and the original block. A TU is not necessarily limited to the sizeof a PU. Thus, TUs may be larger or smaller than a PU. For intra coding,a PU may be collocated with a corresponding leaf-TU for the same CU. Insome examples, the maximum size of a leaf-TU may correspond to the sizeof the corresponding leaf-CU.

Moreover, TUs of leaf-CUs may also be associated with respectivequadtree data structures, referred to as residual quadtrees (RQTs). Thatis, a leaf-CU may include a quadtree indicating how the leaf-CU ispartitioned into TUs. The root node of a TU quadtree generallycorresponds to a leaf-CU, while the root node of a CU quadtree generallycorresponds to a treeblock (or LCU). TUs of the RQT that are not splitare referred to as leaf-TUs. In general, this disclosure uses the termsCU and TU to refer to leaf-CU and leaf-TU, respectively, unless notedotherwise.

A video sequence typically includes a series of video frames orpictures. A group of pictures (GOP) generally comprises a series of oneor more of the video pictures. A GOP may include syntax data in a headerof the GOP, a header of one or more of the pictures, or elsewhere, thatdescribes a number of pictures included in the GOP. Each slice of apicture may include slice syntax data that describes an encoding modefor the respective slice. Video encoder 20 typically operates on videoblocks within individual video slices in order to encode the video data.A video block may correspond to a coding node within a CU. The videoblocks may have fixed or varying sizes, and may differ in size accordingto a specified coding standard.

As an example, the HM supports prediction in various PU sizes. Assumingthat the size of a particular CU is 2N×2N, the HM supportsintra-prediction in PU sizes of 2N×2N or N×N, and inter-prediction insymmetric PU sizes of 2N×2N, 2N×N, N×2N, or N×N. The HM also supportsasymmetric partitioning for inter-prediction in PU sizes of 2N×nU,2N×nD, nL×2N, and nR×2N. In asymmetric partitioning, one direction of aCU is not partitioned, while the other direction is partitioned into 25%and 75%. The portion of the CU corresponding to the 25% partition isindicated by an “n” followed by an indication of “Up,” “Down,” “Left,”or “Right.” Thus, for example, “2N×nU” refers to a 2N×2N CU that ispartitioned horizontally with a 2N×0.5N PU on top and a 2N×1.5N PU onbottom.

In this disclosure, “N×N” and “N by N” may be used interchangeably torefer to the pixel dimensions of a video block in terms of vertical andhorizontal dimensions, e.g., 16×16 pixels or 16 by 16 pixels. Ingeneral, a 16×16 block will have 16 pixels in a vertical direction(y=16) and 16 pixels in a horizontal direction (x=16). Likewise, an N×Nblock generally has N pixels in a vertical direction and N pixels in ahorizontal direction, where N represents a nonnegative integer value.The pixels in a block may be arranged in rows and columns. Moreover,blocks need not necessarily have the same number of pixels in thehorizontal direction as in the vertical direction. For example, blocksmay comprise N×M pixels, where M is not necessarily equal to N.

Following intra-predictive or inter-predictive coding using the PUs of aCU, video encoder 20 may calculate residual data for the TUs of the CU.The PUs may comprise syntax data describing a method or mode ofgenerating predictive pixel data in the spatial domain (also referred toas the pixel domain) and the TUs may comprise coefficients in thetransform domain following application of a transform, e.g., a discretecosine transform (DCT), an integer transform, a wavelet transform, or aconceptually similar transform to residual video data. The residual datamay correspond to pixel differences between pixels of the unencodedpicture and prediction values corresponding to the PUs. Video encoder 20may form the TUs including the residual data for the CU, and thentransform the TUs to produce transform coefficients for the CU.

Following any transforms to produce transform coefficients, videoencoder 20 may perform quantization of the transform coefficients.Quantization generally refers to a process in which transformcoefficients are quantized to possibly reduce the amount of data used torepresent the coefficients, providing further compression. Thequantization process may reduce the bit depth associated with some orall of the coefficients. For example, an n-bit value may be rounded downto an m-bit value during quantization, where n is greater than m.

Following quantization, the video encoder may scan the transformcoefficients, producing a one-dimensional vector from thetwo-dimensional matrix including the quantized transform coefficients.The scan may be designed to place higher energy (and therefore lowerfrequency) coefficients at the front of the array and to place lowerenergy (and therefore higher frequency) coefficients at the back of thearray. In some examples, video encoder 20 may utilize a predefined scanorder to scan the quantized transform coefficients to produce aserialized vector that can be entropy encoded. In other examples, videoencoder 20 may perform an adaptive scan. After scanning the quantizedtransform coefficients to form a one-dimensional vector, video encoder20 may entropy encode the one-dimensional vector, e.g., according tocontext-adaptive variable length coding (CAVLC), context-adaptive binaryarithmetic coding (CABAC), syntax-based context-adaptive binaryarithmetic coding (SBAC), Probability Interval Partitioning Entropy(PIPE) coding or another entropy encoding methodology. Video encoder 20may also entropy encode syntax elements associated with the encodedvideo data for use by video decoder 30 in decoding the video data.

To perform CABAC, video encoder 20 may assign a context within a contextmodel to a symbol to be transmitted. The context may relate to, forexample, whether neighboring values of the symbol are non-zero or not.To perform CAVLC, video encoder 20 may select a variable length code fora symbol to be transmitted. Codewords in VLC may be constructed suchthat relatively shorter codes correspond to more probable symbols, whilelonger codes correspond to less probable symbols. In this way, the useof VLC may achieve a bit savings over, for example, using equal-lengthcodewords for each symbol to be transmitted. The probabilitydetermination may be based on a context assigned to the symbol.

Video encoder 20 may further send syntax data, such as block-basedsyntax data, frame-based syntax data, and GOP-based syntax data, tovideo decoder 30, e.g., in a frame header, a block header, a sliceheader, or a GOP header. The GOP syntax data may describe a number offrames in the respective GOP, and the frame syntax data may indicate anencoding/prediction mode used to encode the corresponding frame.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a video encoderthat may implement techniques in accordance with aspects described inthis disclosure. Video encoder 20 may be configured to perform any orall of the techniques of this disclosure. As one example, mode selectunit 40 may be configured to perform any or all of the techniquesdescribed in this disclosure. However, aspects of this disclosure arenot so limited. In some examples, the techniques described in thisdisclosure may be shared among the various components of video encoder20. In some examples, in addition to or instead of, a processor (notshown) may be configured to perform any or all of the techniquesdescribed in this disclosure.

In some embodiments, the mode select unit 40, the motion estimation unit42, the motion compensation unit 44, the intra prediction unit 46 (oranother component of the mode select unit 40, shown or not shown), oranother component of the encoder 20 (shown or not shown) may perform thetechniques of this disclosure. For example, the mode select unit 40 mayreceive video data for encoding, which may be encoded into a base layerand corresponding one or more enhancement layers. The mode select unit40, the motion estimation unit 42, the motion compensation unit 44, theintra prediction unit 46, or another appropriate unit of the encoder 20may determine an enhancement layer weight and a base layer weight. Theappropriate unit of the encoder 20 may also determine a value of acurrent video unit based on a difference video layer, a value of a videounit in the enhancement layer weighted by the enhancement layer weight,and a value of a video unit in the base layer weighted by the base layerweight. The encoder 20 can encode the current video unit and signal theenhancement layer weight and the base layer weight in a bitstream.

Video encoder 20 may perform intra- and inter-coding of video blockswithin video slices. Intra-coding relies on spatial prediction to reduceor remove spatial redundancy in video within a given video frame orpicture. Inter-coding relies on temporal prediction to reduce or removetemporal redundancy in video within adjacent frames or pictures of avideo sequence. Intra-mode (I mode) may refer to any of several spatialbased coding modes. Inter-modes, such as uni-directional prediction (Pmode) or bi-prediction (B mode), may refer to any of severaltemporal-based coding modes.

As shown in FIG. 2, video encoder 20 receives a current video blockwithin a video frame to be encoded. In the example of FIG. 1, videoencoder 20 includes mode select unit 40, reference frame memory 64,summer 50, transform processing unit 52, quantization unit 54, andentropy encoding unit 56. Mode select unit 40, in turn, includes motioncompensation unit 44, motion estimation unit 42, intra-prediction unit46, and partition unit 48. For video block reconstruction, video encoder20 also includes inverse quantization unit 58, inverse transform unit60, and summer 62. A deblocking filter (not shown in FIG. 2) may also beincluded to filter block boundaries to remove blockiness artifacts fromreconstructed video. If desired, the deblocking filter would typicallyfilter the output of summer 62. Additional filters (in loop or postloop) may also be used in addition to the deblocking filter. Suchfilters are not shown for brevity, but if desired, may filter the outputof summer 50 (as an in-loop filter).

During the encoding process, video encoder 20 receives a video frame orslice to be coded. The frame or slice may be divided into multiple videoblocks. Motion estimation unit 42 and motion compensation unit 44perform inter-predictive coding of the received video block relative toone or more blocks in one or more reference frames to provide temporalprediction. Intra-prediction unit 46 may alternatively performintra-predictive coding of the received video block relative to one ormore neighboring blocks in the same frame or slice as the block to becoded to provide spatial prediction. Video encoder 20 may performmultiple coding passes, e.g., to select an appropriate coding mode foreach block of video data.

Moreover, partition unit 48 may partition blocks of video data intosub-blocks, based on evaluation of previous partitioning schemes inprevious coding passes. For example, partition unit 48 may initiallypartition a frame or slice into LCUs, and partition each of the LCUsinto sub-CUs based on rate-distortion analysis (e.g., rate-distortionoptimization). Mode select unit 40 may further produce a quadtree datastructure indicative of partitioning of an LCU into sub-CUs. Leaf-nodeCUs of the quadtree may include one or more PUs and one or more TUs.

Mode select unit 40 may select one of the coding modes, intra or inter,e.g., based on error results, and provides the resulting intra- orinter-coded block to summer 50 to generate residual block data and tosummer 62 to reconstruct the encoded block for use as a reference frame.Mode select unit 40 also provides syntax elements, such as motionvectors, intra-mode indicators, partition information, and other suchsyntax information, to entropy encoding unit 56.

Motion estimation unit 42 and motion compensation unit 44 may be highlyintegrated, but are illustrated separately for conceptual purposes.Motion estimation, performed by motion estimation unit 42, is theprocess of generating motion vectors, which estimate motion for videoblocks. A motion vector, for example, may indicate the displacement of aPU of a video block within a current video frame or picture relative toa predictive block within a reference frame (or other coded unit)relative to the current block being coded within the current frame (orother coded unit). A predictive block is a block that is found toclosely match the block to be coded, in terms of pixel difference, whichmay be determined by sum of absolute difference (SAD), sum of squaredifference (SSD), or other difference metrics. In some examples, videoencoder 20 may calculate values for sub-integer pixel positions ofreference pictures stored in reference frame memory 64. For example,video encoder 20 may interpolate values of one-quarter pixel positions,one-eighth pixel positions, or other fractional pixel positions of thereference picture. Therefore, motion estimation unit 42 may perform amotion search relative to the full pixel positions and fractional pixelpositions and output a motion vector with fractional pixel precision.

Motion estimation unit 42 calculates a motion vector for a PU of a videoblock in an inter-coded slice by comparing the position of the PU to theposition of a predictive block of a reference picture. The referencepicture may be selected from a first reference picture list (List 0) ora second reference picture list (List 1), each of which identify one ormore reference pictures stored in reference frame memory 64. Motionestimation unit 42 sends the calculated motion vector to entropyencoding unit 56 and motion compensation unit 44.

Motion compensation, performed by motion compensation unit 44, mayinvolve fetching or generating the predictive block based on the motionvector determined by motion estimation unit 42. Again, motion estimationunit 42 and motion compensation unit 44 may be functionally integrated,in some examples. Upon receiving the motion vector for the PU of thecurrent video block, motion compensation unit 44 may locate thepredictive block to which the motion vector points in one of thereference picture lists. Summer 50 forms a residual video block bysubtracting pixel values of the predictive block from the pixel valuesof the current video block being coded, forming pixel difference values,as discussed below. In general, motion estimation unit 42 performsmotion estimation relative to luma components, and motion compensationunit 44 uses motion vectors calculated based on the luma components forboth chroma components and luma components. Mode select unit 40 may alsogenerate syntax elements associated with the video blocks and the videoslice for use by video decoder 30 in decoding the video blocks of thevideo slice.

Intra-prediction unit 46 may intra-predict a current block, as analternative to the inter-prediction performed by motion estimation unit42 and motion compensation unit 44, as described above. In particular,intra-prediction unit 46 may determine an intra-prediction mode to useto encode a current block. In some examples, intra-prediction unit 46may encode a current block using various intra-prediction modes, e.g.,during separate encoding passes, and intra-prediction unit 46 (or modeselect unit 40, in some examples) may select an appropriateintra-prediction mode to use from the tested modes.

For example, intra-prediction unit 46 may calculate rate-distortionvalues using a rate-distortion analysis for the various testedintra-prediction modes, and select the intra-prediction mode having thebest rate-distortion characteristics among the tested modes.Rate-distortion analysis generally determines an amount of distortion(or error) between an encoded block and an original, unencoded blockthat was encoded to produce the encoded block, as well as a bitrate(that is, a number of bits) used to produce the encoded block.Intra-prediction unit 46 may calculate ratios from the distortions andrates for the various encoded blocks to determine which intra-predictionmode exhibits the best rate-distortion value for the block.

After selecting an intra-prediction mode for a block, intra-predictionunit 46 may provide information indicative of the selectedintra-prediction mode for the block to entropy encoding unit 56. Entropyencoding unit 56 may encode the information indicating the selectedintra-prediction mode. Video encoder 20 may include in the transmittedbitstream configuration data, which may include a plurality of intraprediction mode index tables and a plurality of modifiedintra-prediction mode index tables (also referred to as codeword mappingtables), definitions of encoding contexts for various blocks, andindications of a most probable intra-prediction mode, anintra-prediction mode index table, and a modified intra-prediction modeindex table to use for each of the contexts.

Video encoder 20 forms a residual video block by subtracting theprediction data from mode select unit 40 from the original video blockbeing coded. Summer 50 represents the component or components thatperform this subtraction operation. Transform processing unit 52 appliesa transform, such as a discrete cosine transform (DCT) or a conceptuallysimilar transform, to the residual block, producing a video blockcomprising residual transform coefficient values. Transform processingunit 52 may perform other transforms which are conceptually similar toDCT. Wavelet transforms, integer transforms, sub-band transforms orother types of transforms could also be used. In any case, transformprocessing unit 52 applies the transform to the residual block,producing a block of residual transform coefficients. The transform mayconvert the residual information from a pixel value domain to atransform domain, such as a frequency domain. Transform processing unit52 may send the resulting transform coefficients to quantization unit54. Quantization unit 54 quantizes the transform coefficients to furtherreduce bit rate. The quantization process may reduce the bit depthassociated with some or all of the coefficients. The degree ofquantization may be modified by adjusting a quantization parameter. Insome examples, quantization unit 54 may then perform a scan of thematrix including the quantized transform coefficients. Alternatively,entropy encoding unit 56 may perform the scan.

Following quantization, entropy encoding unit 56 entropy codes thequantized transform coefficients. For example, entropy encoding unit 56may perform context adaptive variable length coding (CAVLC), contextadaptive binary arithmetic coding (CABAC), syntax-based context-adaptivebinary arithmetic coding (SBAC), probability interval partitioningentropy (PIPE) coding or another entropy coding technique. In the caseof context-based entropy coding, context may be based on neighboringblocks. Following the entropy coding by entropy encoding unit 56, theencoded bitstream may be transmitted to another device (e.g., videodecoder 30) or archived for later transmission or retrieval.

Inverse quantization unit 58 and inverse transform unit 60 apply inversequantization and inverse transformation, respectively, to reconstructthe residual block in the pixel domain, e.g., for later use as areference block. Motion compensation unit 44 may calculate a referenceblock by adding the residual block to a predictive block of one of theframes of reference frame memory 64. Motion compensation unit 44 mayalso apply one or more interpolation filters to the reconstructedresidual block to calculate sub-integer pixel values for use in motionestimation. Summer 62 adds the reconstructed residual block to themotion compensated prediction block produced by motion compensation unit44 to produce a reconstructed video block for storage in reference framememory 64. The reconstructed video block may be used by motionestimation unit 42 and motion compensation unit 44 as a reference blockto inter-code a block in a subsequent video frame.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a video decoderthat may implement techniques in accordance with aspects described inthis disclosure. Video decoder 30 may be configured to perform any orall of the techniques of this disclosure. As one example, motioncompensation unit 72 and/or intra prediction unit 74 may be configuredto perform any or all of the techniques described in this disclosure.However, aspects of this disclosure are not so limited. In someexamples, the techniques described in this disclosure may be sharedamong the various components of video decoder 30. In some examples, inaddition to or instead of, a processor (not shown) may be configured toperform any or all of the techniques described in this disclosure.

In some embodiments, the entropy decoding unit 70, the motioncompensation unit 72, the intra prediction unit 74, or another componentof the decoder 30 (shown or not shown) may perform the techniques ofthis disclosure. For example, the entropy decoding unit 70 may receivean encoded video bitstream, which may encode data relating to a baselayer and corresponding one or more enhancement layers. The motioncompensation unit 72, the intra prediction unit 74, or anotherappropriate unit of the decoder 30 may determine an enhancement layerweight and a base layer weight. The appropriate unit of the decoder 30may also determine a value of a current video unit based on a differencevideo layer, a value of a video unit in the enhancement layer weightedby the enhancement layer weight, and a value of a video unit in the baselayer weighted by the base layer weight. The decoder 30 can decode thecurrent video unit and receive the enhancement layer weight and the baselayer weight in a bitstream. The decoder 30 may also at least partiallyderive the enhancement layer weight and the base layer weight frominformation in a bitstream.

In the example of FIG. 3, video decoder 30 includes an entropy decodingunit 70, motion compensation unit 72, intra prediction unit 74, inversequantization unit 76, inverse transformation unit 78, reference framememory 82 and summer 80. Video decoder 30 may, in some examples, performa decoding pass generally reciprocal to the encoding pass described withrespect to video encoder 20 (FIG. 2). Motion compensation unit 72 maygenerate prediction data based on motion vectors received from entropydecoding unit 70, while intra-prediction unit 74 may generate predictiondata based on intra-prediction mode indicators received from entropydecoding unit 70.

During the decoding process, video decoder 30 receives an encoded videobitstream that represents video blocks of an encoded video slice andassociated syntax elements from video encoder 20. Entropy decoding unit70 of video decoder 30 entropy decodes the bitstream to generatequantized coefficients, motion vectors or intra-prediction modeindicators, and other syntax elements. Entropy decoding unit 70 forwardsthe motion vectors to and other syntax elements to motion compensationunit 72. Video decoder 30 may receive the syntax elements at the videoslice level and/or the video block level.

When the video slice is coded as an intra-coded (I) slice, intraprediction unit 74 may generate prediction data for a video block of thecurrent video slice based on a signaled intra prediction mode and datafrom previously decoded blocks of the current frame or picture. When thevideo frame is coded as an inter-coded (e.g., B, P or GPB) slice, motioncompensation unit 72 produces predictive blocks for a video block of thecurrent video slice based on the motion vectors and other syntaxelements received from entropy decoding unit 70. The predictive blocksmay be produced from one of the reference pictures within one of thereference picture lists. Video decoder 30 may construct the referenceframe lists, List 0 and List 1, using default construction techniquesbased on reference pictures stored in reference frame memory 92. Motioncompensation unit 72 determines prediction information for a video blockof the current video slice by parsing the motion vectors and othersyntax elements, and uses the prediction information to produce thepredictive blocks for the current video block being decoded. Forexample, motion compensation unit 72 uses some of the received syntaxelements to determine a prediction mode (e.g., intra- orinter-prediction) used to code the video blocks of the video slice, aninter-prediction slice type (e.g., B slice, P slice, or GPB slice),construction information for one or more of the reference picture listsfor the slice, motion vectors for each inter-encoded video block of theslice, inter-prediction status for each inter-coded video block of theslice, and other information to decode the video blocks in the currentvideo slice.

Motion compensation unit 72 may also perform interpolation based oninterpolation filters. Motion compensation unit 72 may use interpolationfilters as used by video encoder 20 during encoding of the video blocksto calculate interpolated values for sub-integer pixels of referenceblocks. In this case, motion compensation unit 72 may determine theinterpolation filters used by video encoder 20 from the received syntaxelements and use the interpolation filters to produce predictive blocks.

Inverse quantization unit 76 inverse quantizes, e.g., de-quantizes, thequantized transform coefficients provided in the bitstream and decodedby entropy decoding unit 80. The inverse quantization process mayinclude use of a quantization parameter QP_(Y) calculated by videodecoder 30 for each video block in the video slice to determine a degreeof quantization and, likewise, a degree of inverse quantization thatshould be applied.

Inverse transform unit 78 applies an inverse transform, e.g., an inverseDCT, an inverse integer transform, or a conceptually similar inversetransform process, to the transform coefficients in order to produceresidual blocks in the pixel domain.

After motion compensation unit 82 generates the predictive block for thecurrent video block based on the motion vectors and other syntaxelements, video decoder 30 forms a decoded video block by summing theresidual blocks from inverse transform unit 78 with the correspondingpredictive blocks generated by motion compensation unit 72. Summer 90represents the component or components that perform this summationoperation. If desired, a deblocking filter may also be applied to filterthe decoded blocks in order to remove blockiness artifacts. Other loopfilters (either in the coding loop or after the coding loop) may also beused to smooth pixel transitions, or otherwise improve the videoquality. The decoded video blocks in a given frame or picture are thenstored in reference picture memory 92, which stores reference picturesused for subsequent motion compensation. Reference frame memory 82 alsostores decoded video for later presentation on a display device, such asdisplay device 32 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 and FIG. 4A are conceptual diagrams illustrating adaptiveweighted difference domain reference reconstruction according to aspectsof this disclosure. As explained above, the difference domain mayinclude many high frequency components. The high frequency nature of thedifference domain may be due the enhancement layer (EL) and the baselayer (BL) operating at different quantization or spatial resolution. Insuch case, taking the difference between the EL and the reconstructed BLframes to obtain difference domain frames will result in high frequencycomponents, and coding of such high frequency components may not resultin good rate-distortion trade-off. Also, the EL and reconstructed BLframe might be operating at different spatial resolutions, in which casereconstructed BL is upsampled to match the resolution of EL. Thisoperation could reduce the correlation between them and lead to highfrequency difference domain components, which are difficult to code.

Accordingly, the techniques of this disclosure may assign a weightedvalue to a reference frame in the EL and a reference frame in thereconstructed BL in order to generate a reference frame for thedifference domain. Similarly, the techniques of this disclosure mayassign a weighted value to spatial neighboring pixels in the EL andspatial neighboring pixels in the reconstructed BL in order to generatespatial neighboring pixels for the difference domain. The actualweighted value may be based on a number of different factors. Suchfactors may include similarity of the EL and the BL. Another factor canbe whether a layer has strong temporal correlation. If the EL hasstronger temporal correlation than the reconstructed BL, more weight maybe given to the EL reference frame. A first weight value may be assignedto the EL reference frame, and a second value may be assigned to thereconstructed BL reference frame. The first weight value for the EL maybe referred to as the “EL weight,” and the second weight value for thereconstructed BL layer may be referred to as the “BL weight.” In FIG. 4,the EL weight is indicated by W₁, and the BL weight is indicated by W₀.

The EL and BL weight values have been explained in terms of referenceframes above. However, the EL and BL weight values may also be assignedto the current frames. Therefore, the EL frame and the correspondingreconstructed BL frame at a given point in time can each have an ELweight and a BL weight. For example, frames at time T₁ and time T₂ areused for inter prediction. The EL and the reconstructed BL at T₁ willhave corresponding W₁ and W₀ values, and the EL and the reconstructed BLat T₂ will also have corresponding W₁ and W₀ values, which may bedifferent from W1 and W₀ at T₁. The difference reconstruction frame (ordifference domain frame) for each point in time may be generated bytaking the difference between the EL weighted by W₁ and thereconstructed BL weighted by W₀. Inter prediction in the differencedomain is performed by taking the difference reconstruction frame at T₁and the difference reconstruction frame at T₂ and predicting them fromeach other to generate the difference domain residue. Accordingly,weighting the EL and the reconstructed BL can have an effect on interprediction in the difference domain. The difference spatial neighboringpixels for intra prediction (or difference domain spatial neighboringpixels) for each point in time may be generated by taking the differencebetween the EL weighted by W₁ and the reconstructed BL weighted by W₀.Intra prediction in the difference domain is performed by taking thecurrent difference reconstruction prediction unit at T₁ and thedifference reconstruction spatial neighboring pixels at T₁ andpredicting them from each other to generate the difference domainresidue. Accordingly, weighting the EL and the reconstructed BL can havean effect on intra prediction in the difference domain.

Adaptive weighted difference domain reference reconstruction accordingto the techniques of this disclosure will now be explained in moredetail with reference to FIG. 4 and FIG. 4A. In some embodiments, theadaptive weighted difference domain reconstruction may be calculatedaccording to the following equation:Diff Recon=(W ₁*EL Recon−W ₀*BL Recon)  (1)

In Equation (1), Diff Recon refers to the difference domainreconstruction, EL Recon refers to the enhancement layer reconstruction,and BL Recon refers to the base layer reconstruction. In someembodiments, a Round value could be added while calculating the weighteddifference domain reconstruction according to the following equation:Diff Recon=(W ₁*EL Recon−W ₀*BL Recon+Round)  (2)

The Round value may either be coded or assumed to be a default value atdifferent syntax levels supported in HEVC. For example, rounding valuescan be supported in sequence header, picture header, slice header, LCUheader, and CU level syntax. In some embodiments, finer rounding valuescan be chosen by rate-distortion (R-D) optimization criteria atdifferent granular syntax levels.

In the example of FIG. 4, Equation (2) is applied to EL andreconstructed BL frames at different points in time (e.g., T₁ and T₂) toadaptively assign weight to the frames from the layers. At T₁, theEnhancement Layer Reference (ELR) and the reconstructed Base LayerReference (BLR) are weighted by W₁ and W₀, respectively, in order togenerate the Enhancement Layer Difference Reference (ELDR). The ELDRrefers to the difference reconstruction frame. The ELDR may becalculated according to Equation (2) as follows:ELDR=(W ₁*ELR−W ₀*BLR+Round)Similarly, at T₂, the Enhancement Layer Current (ELC) and thereconstructed Base Layer Current (BLC) are weighted by W₁ and W₀,respectively, in order to generate the Enhancement Layer DifferenceCurrent (ELDC). The ELDC refers to the difference reconstruction frame.The ELDC may be calculated according to Equation (2) as follows:ELDC=(W ₁*ELC−W ₀*BLC+Round)Inter prediction may be performed using the Enhancement Layer DifferenceReference (ELDR) and the Enhancement Layer Difference Current (ELDC) inorder to generate the Enhancement Layer Difference Residue (ELDR). TheELDR may be calculated as follows:Enhancement Layer Diff Residue=DiffCurrent(ELDC)−MC(ELDR)^(MV Difference) ^(_) ^(domain)  (3)

The above expression denotes the difference between the ELDC and theELDR obtained through motion compensation based on the motion vector inthe difference domain, which may be referred as the Enhancement LayerDifference Residue. In some examples, for encoder simplificationpurposes, the encoder may choose to use the motion vector ofnon-difference domain or pixel domain, instead of motion vector of thedifference domain. Then, the above expression becomes:Enhancement Layer Diff Residue=Diff Current(ELDC)−MC(ELDR)^(MV Pixel)^(_) ^(domain)This may be a non-normative operation and up to the encoder to choose todo motion estimation on difference domain to get the motion vector ofdifference domain or choose to do motion estimation on pixel domain toget the motion vector of pixel domain. In some examples, as shown inFIG. 4A, intra prediction may also be performed using the EnhancementLayer Difference Neighboring pixels (ELDNA and ELDNB) and theEnhancement Layer Difference Current PU (ELDC) in order to generate theEnhancement Layer Difference Residue (ELDR). The ELDR may be calculatedas follows:Enhancement Layer Diff Residue=Diff Current(ELDC)−IntraMode(ELDN)  (4)The above expression denotes the difference between the ELDC and theELDN obtained based on the Intra Mode, which may be referred as theEnhancement Layer Difference Residue.

In adaptive weighted difference domain reconstruction, the EL weight andthe BL weight may be any combination of numbers. Some examples areprovided below for illustration purposes. When W₁ and W₀ are both equalto 1, the adaptive difference domain reconstruction is the same as thetraditional difference domain reconstruction, in which the entirereconstructed BL frame is subtracted from the EL frame. Therefore, thetraditional difference domain reconstruction may be expressed as DiffRecon=(EL Recon−BL Recon). Table 1 provides some example combinations ofW₁ and W₀ and the corresponding form of Equation (1).

TABLE 1 W₀ W₁ Reconstructed (BL (EL Base Layer weight) weight)Difference Reconstruction Equation Weight 1 1 Diff Recon = (EL Recon −100% BL Recon) 1 0.25 Diff Recon = (EL Recon − 25% 0.25 * BL Recon) 10.5 Diff Recon = (EL Recon − 50% 0.5 * BL Recon) 1 0.75 Diff Recon = (ELRecon − 75% 0.75 BL Recon)

When W₀=1 and W₁=0.25, the reconstructed BL frame is weighted by 25% andsubtracted from the EL Enhancement layer frame to form the differencedomain frame. Equation (1) reduces to Diff Recon=(EL Recon−0.25*BLRecon) as shown in Table 1. When W₀=1 and W₁=0.5, the reconstructed BLframe is weighted by 50%, and Equation (1) reduces to Diff Recon=(ELRecon−0.5*BL Recon). When W₀=1 and W₁=0.25, the reconstructed BL frameis weighted by 75%, and Equation (1) reduces to Diff Recon=(ELRecon−0.75*BL Recon). In some embodiments, W₁ is greater than W₀ and W₁is a power of 2 when using Equation (1). As explained above, a Roundfactor could be added.

The EL and BL weights may be coded at different syntax levels. Forexample, in HEVC, adaptive weight values can be supported in sequenceheader, picture header, slice header, and LCU header, and CU levelsyntax. In some embodiments, finer adaptive weights can be chosen byrate-distortion (R-D) optimization criteria at different granular syntaxlevels.

In some embodiments, the EL and the BL weights can be signaled using aflag (e.g., “weighted_difference_domain_recon_flag”) that indicates thatadaptive weight for the EL and the reconstructed BL layers are used. Theflag can be added at the following syntax levels: sequence header,picture header, slice header, and LCU header, and CU. The EL and the BLweights may be initialized to 1. In one embodiment, a delta offset forW₀ and W₁ is signaled. In another embodiment, W₀ and W₁ values may bepredefined, and an index indicating a particular set of predefined W₀and W₁ values is signaled.

Although FIG. 4 and FIG. 4A have been explained mostly in terms offrames, the techniques according to aspects of this disclosure may beimplemented at various levels of video information unit. For example,the techniques according to aspects of this disclosure described withrespect to FIG. 4 and FIG. 4A may be implemented at frame, slice, block,and pixel level. In addition, all embodiments described with respect toFIG. 4 and FIG. 4A may be implemented separately, or in combination withone another.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 5A are conceptual diagrams illustrating smoothing ofdifference domain reference according to aspects of this disclosure.Because the difference domain is likely to contain high frequencycomponents, inter or intra prediction may not lead good predictionresults when temporal reference frames or spatial neighboring referencepixels calculated using frames that have weak temporal/spatialcorrelation or weak correlation between the EL and the reconstructed BL.Therefore, the techniques may apply a smoothing filter or a low-passfilter to a reference frame in the difference domain in order to reducethe high frequency noise likely to be present in the difference domain.The techniques may apply a simple smoothing filter in order to retaintexture without adding computational complexity. One example of asmoothing filter is a 1:2:1 filter, but any smoothing filter can beapplied. The selection of the smoothing filter may depend on whether thereduction of high frequency noise provides more benefit than the costfrom the additional computational complexity.

In some embodiments, the use of smoothed difference domain predictionmay be indicated using a flag (e.g.,“smoothed_difference_domain_prediction_flag”). In one embodiment, a newprediction mode may be defined for smoothed difference domain prediction(e.g., “smoothed difference domain prediction mode”), and the flag mayindicate that this new prediction mode is used. In certain embodiments,the new prediction mode can be adaptively chosen based onrate-distortion (R-D) optimization criteria. The flag can be added atthe following syntax levels: sequence header, picture header, sliceheader, and LCU header, and CU. All embodiments described with respectto FIG. 5 may be implemented separately, or in combination with oneanother.

FIG. 5A is similar to FIG. 5, but FIG. 5A illustrates smoothing in thecontext of intra prediction using difference domain spatial neighbors,instead of inter prediction using difference domain references.

Although FIG. 5 has been explained mostly in terms of frames, thetechniques according to aspects of this disclosure may be implemented atvarious levels of video information unit. For example, the techniquesaccording to aspects of this disclosure described with respect to FIG. 5may be implemented at frame, slice, block, and pixel level. In addition,all embodiments described with respect to FIG. 5 and FIG. 5A may beimplemented separately, or in combination with one another.

FIGS. 6 and 6A are flowcharts illustrating an example method foradaptively generating difference domain references according to aspectsof this disclosure. The process 600 may be performed by an encoder(e.g., the encoder as shown in FIG. 2, etc.) or a decoder (e.g., thedecoder as shown in FIG. 3, etc.). The blocks of the process 600 aredescribed with respect to the encoder 20 in FIG. 2, but the process 600may be performed by other components, such as a decoder, as mentionedabove. Similarly, the process 600A may be performed by an encoder or adecoder. The blocks of the process 600A are described with respect tothe encoder 20 in FIG. 2, but the process 600A may be performed by othercomponents, such as a decoder, as mentioned above.

At block 601, the encoder 20 determines EL weight and reconstructed BLweight. The EL weight and the BL weight may be based on a number ofdifferent factors. One such factor may be the similarity between the ELand the reconstructed BL. Another example of a relevant factor may bethe temporal correlation in the EL. The temporal correlation in thereconstructed BL may also be a relevant factor. In some embodiments, theEL weight may be greater than the BL weight. In other embodiments, theBL weight may be greater than the EL weight. The EL weight and the BLweight may be assigned at various syntax levels supported by the codingstandard (e.g., HEVC).

At block 602, the encoder 20 applies the determined EL weight and BLweight to the EL reference and the reconstructed BL reference. At block603, the encoder 20 calculates the difference domain reference bysubtracting the weighted reconstructed BL reference from the weighted ELreference. At block 604, the encoder 20 performs inter prediction basedon the adaptively weighted difference domain references at differentpoints in time. The example method described with respect to FIG. 6 maybe implemented at various syntax levels.

The process 600A in FIG. 6A is similar to the process 600 in FIG. 6, butthe process 600A performs intra prediction using difference domainspatial neighbors, instead of inter prediction using difference domainreferences. For example, at block 604A, the encoder 20 performs intraprediction adaptively weighted difference domain spatial neighbors atsame points in time.

FIG. 6B is a flowchart illustrating another example method foradaptively generating difference domain references according to aspectsof this disclosure. The process 600B may be performed by an encoder(e.g., the encoder as shown in FIG. 2, etc.) or a decoder (e.g., thedecoder as shown in FIG. 3, etc.). The blocks of the process 600B aredescribed with respect to the encoder 20 in FIG. 2, but the process 600Bmay be performed by other components, such as a decoder, as mentionedabove. All embodiments described with respect to FIG. 6B may beimplemented separately, or in combination with one another.

At block 601B, the encoder 20 determines an enhancement layer weight anda base layer weight. In some embodiments, the video units from theenhancement layer and the base layer may be weighted differently, e.g.,in order to obtain better prediction results or rate-distortiontrade-off. In one embodiment, the enhancement layer weight and the baselayer weight may be determined based upon a similarity between theenhancement layer and the base layer. For example, the base layer weightmay be reduced compared to the enhancement layer weight if the twolayers are not similar. Similarity may be based on, e.g., temporalcorrelation or spatial correlation between the enhancement layer and thebase layer. The enhancement layer weight is applied to video units inthe enhancement layer, and the base layer weight is applied to videounits in the base layer.

At block 602B, the encoder 20 applies the enhancement layer weight to avalue of a video unit in the enhancement layer, and applies the baselayer weight to a value of a video unit in the base layer. The videounit in the enhancement layer and the video unit in the base layer maybe reference video units from each layer, respectively. The enhancementlayer weight and the base layer weight may be applied at any codinglevel, including, but not limited to the following syntax levels: aframe, a slice, a largest coding unit (LCU), a coding unit (CU), ablock, a pixel, and a sub-pixel. The enhancement layer weight and thebase layer weight may be signaled in a bitstream, or may be received ina bitstream or at least partially derived from information in abitstream.

At block 603B, the encoder 20 determines a value of a current video unitbased on the difference video layer, the value of the video unit in theenhancement layer weighted by the enhancement layer weight, and thevalue of the video unit in the base layer weighted by the base layerweight. Difference video layer may refer to the difference domain. Avideo unit may be any unit of video data, and can include but is notlimited to: a frame, a slice, a largest coding unit (LCU), a coding unit(CU), a block, a pixel, and a sub-pixel. The value of the current videounit may be determined by generating a prediction unit (PU) for thecurrent video unit. In some embodiments, the current video unit is adifference video unit associated with the difference video layer. Thevalue of the current video unit may be determined based on a differencereference video unit or a difference spatial neighboring video unitassociated with the difference video layer. The difference referencevideo unit or the difference spatial neighboring video unit may bederived from a difference of the weighted enhancement layer video unitand the weighted base layer video unit.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example method for smoothingdifference domain references according to aspects of this disclosure.The process 700 may be performed by an encoder (e.g., the encoder asshown in FIG. 2, etc.) or a decoder (e.g., the decoder as shown in FIG.3, etc.). The blocks of the process 700 are described with respect tothe encoder 20 in FIG. 2, but the process 700 may be performed by othercomponents, such as a decoder, as mentioned above.

At block 701, the encoder 20 determines whether to apply a smoothingfilter to a difference domain reference or spatial neighboring pixels.For example, the encoder 20 may decide that a difference domainreference or spatial neighboring pixels includes high frequencycomponents. The encoder 20 may also choose to apply a smoothing filteras the default. The encoder 20 may also determine whether to apply asmoothing filter based on the computational complexity required by theapplication of the smoothing filter. At block 702, the encoder 20applies a smoothing filter to the difference domain reference. At block703, the encoder 20 performs inter prediction or intra prediction basedon the smoothed difference domain reference or neighboring pixels,respectively. The example method described with respect to FIG. 7 may beimplemented at various syntax levels.

FIG. 7A is a flowchart illustrating another example method for smoothingdifference domain references according to aspects of this disclosure.The process 700A may be performed by an encoder (e.g., the encoder asshown in FIG. 2, etc.) or a decoder (e.g., the decoder as shown in FIG.3, etc.). The blocks of the process 700A are described with respect tothe encoder 20 in FIG. 2, but the process 700A may be performed by othercomponents, such as a decoder, as mentioned above. All embodimentsdescribed with respect to FIG. 7A may be implemented separately, or incombination with one another.

At block 701A, the encoder 20 applies a smoothing filter to a referencevideo unit or spatial neighboring video unit from a difference videolayer. The difference video layer may refer to the difference domain. Areference video unit from the difference video layer may be used inperforming inter prediction for a video unit. A spatial neighboringvideo unit from the difference video layer may be used in performingintra prediction for a video unit. Examples of smoothing filters caninclude, but are not limited to 3-tap filters, 4-tap filters, 6-tapfilters, etc. In some embodiments, the encoder 20 applies a low-passfilter, such as a 1:2:1 filter. In other embodiments, the encoder 20 mayapply a band-pass filter or a high-pass filter.

The encoder 20 may determine whether to apply a smoothing filter to areference video unit or a spatial neighboring video unit based on thetrade-off between the benefit of smoothing the video unit and the costof added computational complexity from applying the smoothing filter.For example, the encoder 20 may decide to apply a smoothing filter ifthe texture of the video unit can be retained without adding muchcomputational complexity.

At block 702A, the encoder 20 determines a value of a video unit basedon the reference video unit or spatial neighboring video unit. A videounit may be any unit of video data, and can include but is not limitedto: a frame, a slice, a largest coding unit (LCU), a coding unit (CU), ablock, a pixel, and a sub-pixel. The value of the video unit may bedetermined by generating a prediction unit (PU) for the video unit.

In some embodiments, the encoder 20 may determine the value of the videounit using inter prediction based on the reference video unit, usingintra prediction based on the spatial neighboring video unit, or both.In one embodiment, the reference video unit is derived from a differenceof a reference video unit in the enhancement layer and a reference videounit in the base layer, and the reference video unit in the enhancementlayer is weighted by an enhancement layer weight and the reference videounit in the base layer is weighted by a base layer weight. In anotherembodiment, the spatial neighboring video unit is derived from adifference of a spatial neighboring video unit in the enhancement layerand a spatial neighboring video unit in the base layer, and the spatialneighboring video unit in the enhancement layer is weighted by anenhancement layer weight and the spatial neighboring video unit in thebase layer is weighted by a base layer weight.

In certain embodiments, the encoder 20 may define a prediction mode forapplying the smoothing filter to the reference video unit or spatialneighboring video unit. The encoder 20 may select the prediction modeadaptively according to certain criteria, such as rate-distortionoptimization criteria. In other embodiments, the encoder 20 may define aflag for applying the smoothing filter to the reference video unit orspatial neighboring video unit. Such flag may be signaled in abitstream, or may be received in a bitstream or at least partiallyderived from information in a bitstream.

It is to be recognized that depending on the example, certain acts orevents of any of the techniques described herein can be performed in adifferent sequence, may be added, merged, or left out altogether (e.g.,not all described acts or events are necessary for the practice of thetechniques). Moreover, in certain examples, acts or events may beperformed concurrently, e.g., through multi-threaded processing,interrupt processing, or multiple processors, rather than sequentially.

In one or more examples, the functions described may be implemented inhardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implementedin software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as oneor more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium and executedby a hardware-based processing unit. Computer-readable media may includecomputer-readable storage media, which corresponds to a tangible mediumsuch as data storage media, or communication media including any mediumthat facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place toanother, e.g., according to a communication protocol. In this manner,computer-readable media generally may correspond to (1) tangiblecomputer-readable storage media which is non-transitory or (2) acommunication medium such as a signal or carrier wave. Data storagemedia may be any available media that can be accessed by one or morecomputers or one or more processors to retrieve instructions, codeand/or data structures for implementation of the techniques described inthis disclosure. A computer program product may include acomputer-readable medium.

By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable storagemedia can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical diskstorage, magnetic disk storage, or other magnetic storage devices, flashmemory, or any other medium that can be used to store desired programcode in the form of instructions or data structures and that can beaccessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed acomputer-readable medium. For example, if instructions are transmittedfrom a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable,fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), orwireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then thecoaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wirelesstechnologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in thedefinition of medium. It should be understood, however, thatcomputer-readable storage media and data storage media do not includeconnections, carrier waves, signals, or other transitory media, but areinstead directed to non-transitory, tangible storage media. Disk anddisc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, opticaldisc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc, wheredisks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce dataoptically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be includedwithin the scope of computer-readable media.

Instructions may be executed by one or more processors, such as one ormore digital signal processors (DSPs), general purpose microprocessors,application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmablelogic arrays (FPGAs), or other equivalent integrated or discrete logiccircuitry. Accordingly, the term “processor,” as used herein may referto any of the foregoing structure or any other structure suitable forimplementation of the techniques described herein. In addition, in someaspects, the functionality described herein may be provided withindedicated hardware and/or software modules configured for encoding anddecoding, or incorporated in a combined codec. Also, the techniquescould be fully implemented in one or more circuits or logic elements.

The techniques of this disclosure may be implemented in a wide varietyof devices or apparatuses, including a wireless handset, an integratedcircuit (IC) or a set of ICs (e.g., a chip set). Various components,modules, or units are described in this disclosure to emphasizefunctional aspects of devices configured to perform the disclosedtechniques, but do not necessarily require realization by differenthardware units. Rather, as described above, various units may becombined in a codec hardware unit or provided by a collection ofinteroperative hardware units, including one or more processors asdescribed above, in conjunction with suitable software and/or firmware.

Various examples have been described. These and other examples arewithin the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus configured to code videoinformation, the apparatus comprising: a memory configured to storedifference video information associated with a difference video layer ofpixel information derived from a difference between an enhancement layerand a corresponding base layer; and a processor in communication withthe memory, the processor configured to: signal or receive an indicationthat an enhancement layer video unit in the enhancement layer is to becoded in a smoothed difference domain prediction mode; determine a firstweighted sum of (i) a reference video unit in the enhancement layer anda reference video unit in the base layer, or (ii) a spatial neighboringvideo unit in the enhancement layer and a spatial neighboring video unitin the base layer; apply a smoothing filter to the first weighted sum togenerate a smoothed difference video unit; determine a second weightedsum of the enhancement layer video unit and a base layer video unit inthe base layer that corresponds to the enhancement layer video unit; andpredict the enhancement layer video unit in the smoothed differencedomain prediction mode, using one of inter prediction or intraprediction, based on the smoothed difference video unit and the secondweighted sum.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the smoothing filteris a low-pass filter.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the low-passfilter is a 1:2:1 filter.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thereference video unit in the enhancement layer is weighted by anenhancement layer weight and the reference video unit in the base layeris weighted by a base layer weight that is different from theenhancement layer weight.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thespatial neighboring video unit in the enhancement layer is weighted byan enhancement layer weight and the spatial neighboring video unit inthe base layer is weighted by a base layer weight that is different fromthe enhancement layer weight.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theenhancement layer video unit is one of: a frame, a slice, a largestcoding unit (LCU), a coding unit (CU), a block, a pixel, or a sub-pixel.7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the indication comprises a flagsignaled or received in one of a sequence header, a picture header, aslice header, an LCU header, or a CU level syntax.
 8. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to adaptivelydetermine whether the enhancement layer video unit in the enhancementlayer is to be coded in the smoothed difference domain prediction modeaccording to rate-distortion optimization criteria.
 9. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to signal orreceive a flag indicating that the enhancement layer video unit in theenhancement layer is to be coded in the smoothed difference domainprediction mode.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the flag issignaled or received at a coding level selected from a group comprising:sequence, picture, slice, LCU, CU, and PU, and wherein the flag issignaled or received for signal components selected from a groupcomprising: luma components only, chroma components only, and anycombination of luma and chroma components.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the processor is further configured to reconstruct theenhancement layer video unit based on the prediction of the enhancementlayer video unit.
 12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the base layeris a reconstructed base layer.
 13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theprocessor is further configured to encode the enhancement layer videounit in a bitstream.
 14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processoris further configured to decode the enhancement layer video unit in abitstream.
 15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus isselected from a group consisting of: a desktop computer, a notebookcomputer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a set-top box, atelephone handset, a smart phone, a wireless communication device, asmart pad, a television, a camera, a display device, a digital mediaplayer, a video gaming console and a video streaming device.
 16. Amethod of coding video information comprising: storing difference videoinformation associated with a difference video layer of pixelinformation derived from a difference between an enhancement layer and acorresponding base layer; signaling or receiving an indication that anenhancement layer video unit in the enhancement layer is to be coded ina smoothed difference domain prediction mode; determining a firstweighted sum of (i) a reference video unit in the enhancement layer anda reference video unit in the base layer, or (ii) a spatial neighboringvideo unit in the enhancement layer and a spatial neighboring video unitin the base layer; applying a smoothing filter to the first weighted sumto generate a smoothed difference video unit; determining a secondweighted sum of the enhancement layer video unit and a base layer videounit in the base layer that corresponds to the enhancement layer videounit; and predicting the enhancement layer video unit in the smootheddifference domain prediction mode, using one of inter prediction orintra prediction, based on the smoothed difference video unit and thesecond weighted sum.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the smoothingfilter is a low-pass filter.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein thelow-pass filter is a 1:2:1 filter.
 19. The method of claim 16, whereinthe reference video unit in the enhancement layer is weighted by anenhancement layer weight and the reference video unit in the base layeris weighted by a base layer weight that is different from theenhancement layer weight.
 20. The method of claim 16, wherein thespatial neighboring video unit in the enhancement layer is weighted byan enhancement layer weight and the spatial neighboring video unit inthe base layer is weighted by a base layer weight that is different fromthe enhancement layer weight.
 21. The method of claim 16, wherein theenhancement layer video unit is one of: a frame, a slice, a largestcoding unit (LCU), a coding unit (CU), a block, a pixel, or a sub-pixel.22. The method of claim 16, wherein the indication comprises a flagsignaled or received in one of a sequence header, a picture header, aslice header, an LCU header, or a CU level syntax.
 23. The method ofclaim 16, further comprising adaptively determining whether theenhancement layer video unit in the enhancement layer is to be coded inthe smoothed difference domain prediction mode according torate-distortion optimization criteria.
 24. The method of claim 16,further comprising signaling or receiving a flag indicating that theenhancement layer video unit in the enhancement layer is to be coded inthe smoothed difference domain prediction mode.
 25. The method of claim24, wherein the flag is signaled or received at a coding level selectedfrom a group comprising: sequence, picture, slice, LCU, CU, and PU, andwherein the flag is signaled or received for signal components selectedfrom a group comprising: luma components only, chroma components only,and any combination of luma and chroma components.
 26. The method ofclaim 16, further comprising reconstructing the enhancement layer videounit based on the prediction of the enhancement layer video unit. 27.The method of claim 16, wherein the base layer is a reconstructed baselayer.
 28. The method of claim 16, further comprising encoding theenhancement layer video unit in a bitstream.
 29. The method of claim 16,further comprising decoding the enhancement layer video unit in abitstream.
 30. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium havinginstructions stored thereon that when executed cause an apparatus to:store difference video information associated with a difference videolayer of pixel information derived from a difference between anenhancement layer and a corresponding base layer; signal or receive anindication that an enhancement layer video unit in the enhancement layeris to be coded in a smoothed difference domain prediction mode;determine a first weighted sum of (i) a reference video unit in theenhancement layer and a reference video unit in the base layer, or (ii)a spatial neighboring video unit in the enhancement layer and a spatialneighboring video unit in the base layer; apply a smoothing filter tothe first weighted sum to generate a smoothed difference video unit;determine a second weighted sum of the enhancement layer video unit anda base layer video unit in the base layer that corresponds to theenhancement layer video unit; and predict the enhancement layer videounit in the smoothed difference domain prediction mode, using one ofinter prediction or intra prediction, based on the smoothed differencevideo unit and the second weighted sum.
 31. The computer-readablestorage medium of claim 30, wherein (i) the reference video unit in theenhancement layer is weighted by an enhancement layer weight and thereference video unit in the base layer is weighted by a base layerweight that is different from the enhancement layer weight; or (ii) thespatial neighboring video unit in the enhancement layer is weighted byan enhancement layer weight and the spatial neighboring video unit inthe base layer is weighted by a base layer weight that is different fromthe enhancement layer weight.
 32. An apparatus configured to code videoinformation, the apparatus comprising: means for storing differencevideo information associated with a difference video layer of pixelinformation derived from a difference between an enhancement layer and acorresponding base layer; means for signaling or receiving an indicationthat an enhancement layer video unit in the enhancement layer is to becoded in a smoothed difference domain prediction mode; means fordetermining a first weighted sum of (i) a reference video unit in theenhancement layer and a reference video unit in the base layer, or (ii)a spatial neighboring video unit in the enhancement layer and a spatialneighboring video unit in the base layer; means for applying a smoothingfilter to the first weighted sum to generate a smoothed difference videounit; means for determining a second weighted sum of the enhancementlayer video unit and a base layer video unit in the base layer thatcorresponds to the enhancement layer video unit; and means forpredicting the enhancement layer video unit in the smoothed differencedomain prediction mode, using one of inter prediction or intraprediction, based on the smoothed difference video unit and the secondweighted sum.
 33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the reference videounit in the enhancement layer is weighted by an enhancement layer weightand the reference video unit in the base layer is weighted by a baselayer weight that is different from the enhancement layer weight. 34.The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the spatial neighboring video unit inthe enhancement layer is weighted by an enhancement layer weight and thespatial neighboring video unit in the base layer is weighted by a baselayer weight that is different from the enhancement layer weight. 35.The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the indication comprises a flagsignaled or received in one of a sequence header, a picture header, aslice header, an LCU header, or a CU level syntax.
 36. The apparatus ofclaim 32, further comprising means for adaptively determining whetherthe enhancement layer video unit in the enhancement layer is to be codedin the smoothed difference domain prediction mode according torate-distortion optimization criteria.
 37. The apparatus of claim 32,further comprising means for signaling or receiving a flag indicatingthat the enhancement layer video unit in the enhancement layer is to becoded in the smoothed difference domain prediction mode.
 38. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is a wireless communicationdevice, further comprising: a receiver configured to receive encodedvideo data, the encoded video data comprising the difference videoinformation associated with the difference video layer.
 39. Theapparatus of claim 38, wherein the wireless communication device is acellular telephone and the encoded video data is received by thereceiver and modulated according to a cellular communication standard.40. The method of claim 16, the method being executable on a wirelesscommunication device, wherein the device comprises: a memory configuredto store video data; a processor configured to execute instructions toprocess the video data stored in said memory; a receiver configured toreceive encoded video data, the encoded video data comprising thedifference video information associated with the difference video layer.41. The method of claim 40, wherein the wireless communication device isa cellular telephone and the encoded video data is received by thereceiver and modulated according to a cellular communication standard.